Assessment

In order to implement ecosystem services and biodiversity markets, all players need to understand the supply and demand of the services that would be bought and sold. Once the supply is assessed, the value can be calculated and this value is determined based on the benefits humans receive.

The Ecosystem Services Assessment

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) has developed an Ecosystem Services Assessment (ESA) which assesses the supply of ecosystem services across Alberta. The ABMI uses spatially explicit or location-specific models to calculate the supply and value of each service. The ESA and its models combine information of specific  locations on the landscape with socio economic information and produce a series of maps.  So far, the ABMI has assessed the supply and value of water purification, pollination, forest tmber production and carbon storage, rangeland forage production and carbon, and biodiversity.